A young woman who faced a life-threatening illness has finally succumbed to a fate she fought so hard against.
Jessica Clark, a 22-year-old University of South Carolina student, has died in North Carolina from Primary Pulmonary Hypertension after battling chronic rejection from her second lung-transplant.
According to WIS-TV Clark, who had planned her own funeral, had raised over $7,000 for the Lung Transplant Foundation before her death Thursday morning.
Jessica Clark was optimistic after receiving her second lung transplant at 21-years-old
Jessica's mother Katie Clark, who died when she was just ten-years-old after undergoing two lung transplants, was a source of inspiration for the University student
At eight Clark was diagnosed with PPH and received her first lung transplant, which her body rejected.
She received her second lung transplant at Duke Medical Center when she was 21-years-old. The day after the transplant she suffered a stroke.
About that setback she wrote, 'my stroke brought me to the depths of who I truly am.'
More...
Pictured: Woman, 18, in iconic Boston blast image gets to meet one of the heroes who saved her life... and Bradley Cooper
Dallas fire captain and married father of three who 'rushed to the scene' of the Texas explosion is confirmed dead as five other firefighters remain missing
In September Clark shared her story with WIS-TV in South Carolina. Her mother had undergone the same ordeal when she was just a child and died before she was ten.
Katie Clark had two double-lung transplants before dying from chronic rejection.
According to Jessica, her mother was her inspiration.
There is no long-term treatment for anybody suffering from chronic rejection, a rare condition that Jessica's mother also had
'For the next 10 years [my mom] taught me courage, to live life fully, to never take no for an answer and to never give up,' she wrote on her fundraising page.
Jessica Clark wanted to share her story because the disease is incurable and there are no options for long-term treatment.
In lieu of flowers, the Clark family is asking those who want to pay their respects to Jessica to make a donation to the Lung Transplant Foundation.
According to the American Lung Association, PPH is three times more common in women than men.